The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution has word that Turner Broadcasting is seeking a
buyer for GameTap, Turner's free and
subscriber online game service. This revelation appeared in Turner's second
quarter earning results, which also "mentioned an $18 million noncash impairment
attributed to the sale of GameTap." As of now no potential buyers have been
identified, but
Gamasutra
(thanks Mike Martinez) got the following optimistic statement from Turner: "There is
considerable marketplace interest in the GameTap business and brand," said a
Turner spokesperson of the pending sale. "We are considering various strategic
options, but have reached no final agreement as yet. When there is a resolution,
we will announce it."

I agree with you 100%. Gametap probably doesn't make as much money as it could because it's really not marketed all that well. That and alot of PC gamers (especially those that frequent this site) can't stand paying a subscription fee for anything, whether it be Gametap, WoW, etc.

There is alot more potential there, like having newer games hit the service. Gametap then would be like the PC version of something like Gamefly.

I like the idea of Gametap, been subscribed since it launched and it's come a LONG way. As mentioned above, there are alot of games in the service that I would have never played otherwise.

I've subscribed for nearly two years now. I've found and played and enjoyed a number of games via this service I'd never have bothered checking out otherwise.

Parents out there: you can have sub-accounts (for, say, your child's computer) so your child (or whoever) can download and play games. My 5-year-old daughter has a tremendous amount of fun with all the educational games on the service. That alone is worth the 50-something bucks per year.

Fair enough. Consider me a victim of weak marketing? Gametap and anyone else that markets games that didn't quite make it need to understand their target: gamers who will pay a bit of money for games that didn't quite make the A List.

If the folks at Gametap knew that Diablo III was just announced and that TQ was pretty darned close to what us gamers where now hankering for,they would have screamed it from the highest hills of TBS. But Mass Media doesn't get gamers. This from a person who spent 15 years on Madison Avenue...and 25 years gaming. Argue me now rock stars.

Any time Ray replies I consider. I'd pay a monthly fee to play older games. I just bought Titan Quest with the expansion because I got nostalgic for Diablo. Put this in the hands of someone besided Turner and they might get my attention. Turner gets my attention with Family Guy reruns.

I tried GameTap last week to test out American McGee's Grimm while it was free. The installation was fairly smooth. I'm not a fan of the interface. The download was fairly quick and the game played fine. All in all I found it to be a decent outlet for digital distribution. I prefer Steam, but it was ok.

The gold membership looked interesting, though. For $60 you get a years worth of premium games which included several that I would be interested in (Sam & Max, Overlord, Planescape Torment, Hitman BloodMoney, Ghost Recon, Rainbow 6 3 Gold, etc...). That same $60 would get me JUST the Sam & Max episodes from Steam. So that seems like a pretty good deal right there...

Every six months or so, I may consider subscribing to GameTap, but the service just is not worth it (currently.)

I really like the idea of this service, but it needs to be expanded across the board - more games period, more services, more free/ad-enabled games, and/or the ability to have a premium account.How hard is it to get some good RPGs? Shooters? Adventure games?As it stands now, there are a few games I would like to play for free, but they are not worth the monthly fee. When I was subscribed, I burned through the content - I owned the few "big" games, certain genres were woefully neglected, many games just are not that good - and I could not justify the fee.

I would love to pay, say, an addition $10 a month and then have access to any game that is more than a few years old.

However, if this service just gets gobbled up and controlled by one specific publisher, I would care less. I don't want to pay more for the existing lackluser level of content and the ideal program would have content from various publishers.

Wanting to pay a nominal fee to play (older) games I never intended to purchase,Ray